Not applicable.
Not applicable.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system for playing audio CDs in a CD-ROM drive during an audio CD play mode of the computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operating a CD-ROM drive in a computer system has required booting an operating system and loading and utilizing a CD-ROM drive application. The RAM-based CD-ROM device driver of the CD-ROM drive application allowed for operation of the CD-ROM drive. The lengthy duration of the booting process for an operating system and the considerable user interaction required by a CD-ROM drive application render playing an audio CD in the CD-ROM drive of a computer system, as opposed to in a conventional audio CD player, undesirable. An audio CD player, unlike a CD-ROM drive of a computer system, does not involve a timely initialization process and substantial user interaction. As such, despite the CD-ROM drive present in conventional computer systems, users have maintained a separate audio CD player in place of the portable computer. In addition, where a user is away from his or her audio CD player, a conventional computer system due to its initialization and user interaction requirements is unsuited to playing an audio CD as quickly and easily as allowed by a conventional audio CD player. Thus, because of the initialization process and user interaction required, portable computer users would often carry a separate audio CD player for music listening even though the portable computer had music playing capability.
Briefly, a computer system plays audio CDs in a CD-ROM drive during an audio CD play mode in which the computer system is not fully powered. An audio CD play controller of the computer system includes a means for detecting a plurality of audio CD play buttons for playing an audio CD in the CD-ROM drive and a means for communicating a plurality of audio CD play commands corresponding to the plurality of audio CD play buttons to the CD-ROM drive. The computer system enters the audio CD play mode without a fill boot-up procedure and without loading an operating system.